


Small Things

by ItsaVikingThing



Series: Korrasami Month 2017 [6]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Gentleness, I hope they find it, Just making up tags now, Korrasami Month 2017, Probably not in this fic though, Trying Something a bit Different, What would they be looking for?, Who would even search for tags like this?, change of pace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 06:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12788952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsaVikingThing/pseuds/ItsaVikingThing
Summary: Korra has some big problems to deal with when an entire triad organisation robs a bank.But sometimes, it's important to take time for the smaller things...





	Small Things

It's an overcast night in Republic City. The clouds are low and heavy, the air is thick with fog, and sensible people are making their way indoors.

Korra wishes she was one of those people. Instead, Korra's on the other side of town from her home, and her back is against the wall.

The wall in question is a substantial section of brick and plaster that belongs to Republic City's Harmony Bank, and is currently eagerly trying to make the acquaintance of the sidewalk.

On the sidewalk, directly under the collapsing wall, is an unconscious member of Republic City's Police Department. The RCPD officer is at Korra's feet.

Korra's back is to the falling section of wall, propping it up.

It's heavy. Korra legs are cramping, her back is straining, her breath is laboured, and sweat is creeping steadily towards her eyes.

Smoke billows out of the cracks in the wall. The fire inside the bank, started by the explosives used to blow the vault -- which also blew out part of the roof and this section of wall -- isn't out of hand.

Not yet.

Korra managed to catch the wall with some earthbending, but not before a brick hit Tetsu, knocking him out. Korra obviously couldn't drop the wall on him, and the other options for earthbending it away are currently...unwise.

Harmony Bank was damaged in Kuvira's attack. The building's still upright, but there are cracks in the outer wall and the foundations were weakened. Korra's worried that any act of violent earthbending could bring down more of the building.

Right on top of the bank staff, engineers, RCPD, and triad members all currently inside it.

The bank building itself is scheduled for demolition tomorrow.

Tonight, supposedly in secret, the bank's vault was to be emptied and the contents transported across the river, to the new facility.

It would seem that word has got out, though, given all the criminals and the explosions and the sounds of fighting from inside the burning building.

Which Korra isn't in a position to do anything about, what with having to physically hold up the wall and avoid getting hit by the firebender who is taking lazy potshots at her.

Korra airbends another strike away from her face, into the wall behind her with her left hand. Her right hand is...busy.

The firebender laughs. "Almost got you that time, Avatar!"

"Small...things, Korra. Small things," she reminds herself.

The firebender isn't much more than a kid. Not a full gang member, or one of Kuvira's forces hiding out in the as yet uncleared zones of the city. Just a street kid, seeing an opportunity to get a piece of whatever the triads leave behind.

Behind him, watching the events with varying degrees of worry are a pair of ragged girls, the eldest maybe thirteen.

"That's not nice," the older girl mutters. "Calling us small."

It looks like her hair was cropped with a knife, but luckily she has nothing more dangerous than a rock in her right hand. It's impossible to say what colour her hair is under the dirt, but her eyes are grey and clever. Her left is holding the hand of a smaller girl who is peeping at Korra from behind the rock-holder's back.

"Yeah! You're the one who looks small, Avatar!" The firebender tosses a pea-sized ball of fire at Korra's boot. "You're stuck!"

Korra ignores him. She focuses on the grey-eyed girl and breathes as steadily as she can. "Not...you. Just talking...to myself. About something...my girlfriend...said. About what's...important."

"Girlfriend?" Her grey eyes widen, become younger.

The girl behind her blurts, "Is she pretty?" She flushes and hides completely as soon as the words have left her mouth.

Korra grunts. "Yeah. Asami's...the prettiest. I hope I'll be...snuggling up with her...later."

Korra feels the wall shift and grunts in alarm, shifting her body to compensate.

The youngest of the group, at most ten, emerges cautiously from behind the older girl. She tugs at the hem of the grey-eyed girl's shirt and says, "We are small, Wei Ju. It's not mean if it's true, is it?"

Wei Ju runs a hand over her choppy hair. "Depends on who says it, Mei. We _stay_ small to survive. Small things aren't important to the triads."

"Small things aren't important at all," hisses the firebender. "But we won't be small timers after tonight!"

Wei Ju shoots a nervous glance at him. "Shut up, Riku! We're here for anything everyone else misses, that's all!"

Korra says, "They are important." She closes her eyes, and thinks of all the times Asami has reached out and twined their fingers together. "Someone saying something kind when...you're feeling low. Someone holding you when you can't...hold yourself together. A piece of bread when...you're hungry. A cup of...hot tea on a cold day. The smile of someone who loves you..."

Korra hears the firebender, Riku, shift stance. "What do _you_ know about...about being hungry?"

He sounds close to lashing out again, but Korra can hear Wei Ju move to his side and whisper urgently to him.

"I know less than you," Korra admits. "But I know what it's like...when you don't know when the next meal's coming."

Wei Ju whispers again. Riku snarls, "Shut up! I'm eldest! I'm in charge!"

Korra says, "If you hit me, Riku, what happens to officer Tetsu? He's right under this wall."

"Why should I care?"

Wei Ju hisses at him.

Mei says, "Don't hurt her! She didn't hurt _us_. You said that was the rule about hurting! You don't, unless someone hurt you first!"

Riku cries out, "She let KUVIRA go! After _everything_ Kuvira did to...to the city!"

When Riku's voice breaks, Korra's heart does, too. "I didn't let her go," Korra says. "But I couldn't...let her die. She's in prison. And we...we all have to pick up the pieces."

" _We_?" Riku spits it out. "No one helps _us_! We're not helping anyone else!"

Wei Ju says, wearily, "We can barely help ourselves. What could _we_ do?"

Korra's legs are threatening to give out. She doesn't have much time. She manages to find a smile for them anyway. "You can _always_ help. You can do...small things. Now...I need to do something for...this man. Don't be scared, okay?"

Wei Ju says, "We don't scare easy."

Riku growls, " _You're_ the one who should be-" 

Korra opens her eyes. Blue light spills out of them and washes over the kids.

Wei Ju's eyes widen. She quickly steps between Korra and little Mei. The firebender boy hops back, almost falling over in his panic.

Korra reaches up, arms weaving.

"Small things," she says, as softly as she can in the Avatar state. "Small things _matter_. Small things...add up."

The clouds are low and heavy in the sky. With a sudden, startled hiss, they burst open, spilling a downpour onto the bank and the surrounding streets.

"Asami told me that all those big clouds are really just tiny drops of water floating on tiny pieces of dust. She was right! See? And seeds are small, but if you treat them right, just watch them grow!"

Korra reaches down, making new patterns in the air.

Spirit vines push out from between the cracks in the sidewalk, rising almost shyly into the night. Korra's arms move, calling, cajoling.

Vines spring up around her, climbing up the wall and easing the pressure on her back. Korra pushes against the broken wall, slowly forcing it back into place as the vines weave in and out of the cracks, holding it all together.

Korra kneels down, hauling officer Tetsu onto her shoulder. Korra carries him away from the bank, laying him down on a clear spot of ground. She bends water from the falling rain and guides it over his body, checking for injuries.

When she's sure that he's okay, she lets the blue glow fade from her eyes and turns to Wei Ju and the rest.

Riku's eyes are wide and he's trembling, trying to stand upright. Trying to look ready to fight.

Wei Ju stands in front of him. She stands between all of them and Korra.

Behind them, in the bank, a battle is still taking place.

Korra smiles at them, holding her hands out wide and relaxed. "Can I ask a favour? Would you watch over him? When he wakes up, tell him to send you to Detective Mako."

Riku's face twists up with scorn. "You think we'll go to the police? To be punished?"

Wei Ju doesn't say anything, she just watches Korra, and thinks.

Korra kneels in front of them, careful not to get too close. She shakes her head at Riku. "Mako helps run a shelter. He can get you set up with new shoes, clothes, a warm meal. A place to sleep, if you want it. Maybe even some work. The shelter always needs more help."

The others watch Wei Ju. Wei Ju watches Korra, her eyes uncertain.

"Mako's my friend. He's an uptight idiot, but he's a good man." Korra hesitates. "He's a firebender, too. If you tell him I sent you, he might even tell you how he bent lightning to destroy Kuvira's colossus."

Riku's eyes widen. Quiet little Mei peers out from behind his back. "He did?"

Korra nods. "He did. He almost gave his life to do it. That was a big thing he did. But...he grew up on the streets, too. A lot of small things happened that made him into the kind of person who could do that. Who could help me and my friends save a city."

Wei Ju stares at her, wary but thoughtful.

"Not all of it," Riku says, bitterly.

"No," Korra agrees, sadly. "We didn't save all of it."

Riku looks away, his expression troubled.

A crash sounds from the bank behind them, and a pillar of smoke climbs into the night.

Wei Ju looks Korra in the eye. "I'm sorry we tried to hurt you, Avatar Korra, when you were trying to help someone. I'm...sorry _we_ didn't help. Now go. Help the people in there. We'll look after the officer. I'm...I'm not promising more than that. O-okay?"

Korra nods.

Korra holds out her hand. Wei Ju stares at it, bites her lip, and slips hers into Korra's.

They shake, briefly, and Korra says, "Thank you. All of you." She looks each of them in the eye in turn. "Good luck."

She sprints towards the bank, summoning Raava's light.

She leaps, letting the air carry her up over the broken wall.

Before she drops into the building, Korra catches Wei Ju saying, "Does she still look _small_ to you, Riku?"

He says one word in answer.

It's a small thing.

Korra carries it with her, smiling, into the smoke and darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I have no idea what to think of this one, or if it even works! Give me your brutally honest thoughts, please! :)


End file.
